Swim Effort Worthy Of Support

THE AMBITIOUS GOAL of raising $500,000 in the next three years has been set by Swim Fort Lauderdale, a group formed to support the Fort Lauderdale Swim Team.

But such a goal not only is worthy, it is attainable, if the community supports the effort as it should.

A swim team is a natural for Fort Lauderdale. The team has the city`s International Swimming Hall of Fame pool complex in which to train and compete, a top-notch coach in Jack Nelson, who coached the U.S. women`s team in the 1976 Olympics, and a perfect setting in South Florida.

Not only is Fort Lauderdale good for a swim team, a competitive swim team is good for Greater Fort Lauderdale, drawing national and international attention. The better the team, the more attention that will be focused on the area.

Swim Fort Lauderdale hopes to attract 20 to 24 Olympic-caliber swimmers to the already high-quality swim team. That goal could be attainable with sufficient community support

A fund-raising ball is planned for New Year`s Eve at Bahia Mar, but Swim Fort Lauderdale also needs individual and corporate sponsors and volunteers who are willing to give time and provide housing for members of the swim team who live elsewhere but come to Fort Lauderdale to train under Nelson.

Fort Lauderdale isn`t alone in the effort to attract swimmers and support swim teams. The Mission Bay Aquatic Training Center, a $5 million complex, is now under construction west of Boca Raton. Headed by U.S. Olympic coaches Mark Schubert and Ron O`Brien, it already has attracted some top swimmers. Fort Lauderdale also must compete with the Justus Aquatic Center in Orlando and the Mission Viejo, Calif., swim complex.

But stiff competition is no reason to be discouraged. The more, the merrier. The result can only be good for the development of top-notch U.S. swimmers and divers in a world in which these sports are becoming more and more competitive.

The challenge is to meet the competition and the best way for Greater Fort Lauderdale to do that is to rally behind efforts of Swim Fort Lauderdale to support the swim team program.